Gauging the power of consultants

OAKVILLE, ONT.—According to a couple of guys I recently overheard at the gym, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau doesn’t make his own decisions. As one of them put it, “It’s people in the backrooms who make the policies. They tell politicians what to do and say.” Of course, this idea that politicians are basically puppets whose strings are pulled by powerful behind-the-scenes consultants is a common one. Recall, for instance, how Republican political consultant Karl Rove was often referred to as the “brain” of former U.S. president George W. Bush, while here in Canada, political observers would routinely call one-time Liberal strategist Gerald Butts the “brains behind Justin Trudeau.” Indeed, this notion of politicians bowing to their advisers is so common that I once worked on a campaign where we tried to use that perception to our advantage. We basically told our candidate to go out and tell the media something along the lines of, “My consultants have told me not to support this policy because they say it’s bad politics, but I’m supporting it anyway because I care more about the future of my country than I do about crass political tactics.” The idea was we were trying to cast the candidate as an independent thinker, as his own man, as a principled and conscientious politician who did politics differently, even if that meant disregarding the advice of cynical professional consultants. Still, the fact that it was his consultants who told him to say he was ignoring his consultants made the whole thing kind of ironic. At any rate, at this point, you’re probably wondering if consultants really are that powerful? Are they truly like some modern-day Rasputins, shadowy characters who wield enormous influence over elected officials? Well, the answer to that question is complicated. For one thing, it depends on the politician. Some politicians, for example, do rely extremely heavily on the advice of their consultants for just about every decision they make, from whether they should support a new tax to what colour tie they should wear for the gala. Other politicians, by contrast, might hear out their consultants, but at the end of the day, for good or for ill, they’d rather trust their own political instincts and savvy. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I’d be willing to bet Donald Trump will often ignore his consultants if only because he thinks he’s much smarter than them. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that politicians have influences other than their circle of paid consultants. Some politicians are influenced more by their own inner moral code. Again, to use an example from my own experience, I worked on a campaign where I and other consultants on the team urged the candidate to launch a savagely vicious media campaign against his opponent as that was the only way we thought he’d have a chance of winning. He adamantly refused us, not because he didn’t think such a campaign would work, but because he firmly believed taking such a negative route would forever mar his reputation. Finally, it should be noted that when it comes to influencing politicians, consultants often play second fiddle to spouses. Many a time politicians have turned down a consultant’s carefully thought-out strategic plan mainly because their wives/husbands didn’t like it. Hey, when it comes to influence, nothing beats pillow talk. So, I’d say, the bottom line is while politicians do usually heed the counsel of their consultants that doesn’t necessarily make them unthinking marionettes. Mind you, if you think a politician you like is doing something wrong, it’s always tempting to blame the consultant. Gerry Nicholls is a communications consultant. The Hill Times